St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1887-09-01
UP THE RIVER WITH A LUNATIC.

UP THE RIVER WITH A LUNATIC.
Aft Dixon, Tom Giffard and l had
gone up the river camping out; we
had done our second days work. 1t
was early morning on the third day,
glorious weather. | was in the boat,
getting the steering lines in order ;
Giffard and Dixon were on the bank
talking to DR.. Rawle. AS l understood
it, the doctor was at the head of a pri-
vate asylum for lunatics. He was Gift
fard's friend, not mine. He had been
taking a constitutional when he hap
pened to fall in with us just as we
were sitting down to our Open-air
breakfast; the chance meeting led to
Giffard inviting him to share our gyp-
sy meal. He did.
He was a pleasant fellow, not too
old and not too young. l liked him
exceedingly. We talked of things in
general, and of lunatics in particular.
Something led to his mentioning
think it was speaking of the cunning
of certain class of lunatics, and the
difficulty of keeping them within four
walls-the fact that one of his inmates
had escaped a day or two previously,
and had not yet been retaken. This
was the more singular as it was tOler-
ably certain he had not gone far, and
search had been made for him in ev-
cry direction.
AS Giffard and Dixon were saying
gOOdby, preparatory to getting into
the boat, the doctor laughingly said :
"ShOuld you happen to come across
him, l shall consider you bound to
bring him back safe and sound. He's
a man of forty -four or fOrty-fve, tall
and bOny, irOn-gray hair, and has a
curious habit of showing his teeth and
winking his left eye. Don't look out
for raving lunatic; for on most
points he's as right as you and l. He's
wrong in two things. Whatever you
do, don't let him lose his temper for
whenever he does, though ever so
slightly, he invariably goes in for muir
der-he's all but done for two keepers
already. And don't talk to him of En-
gland or Englishmen for if he should
get upon his native land, he'll favor
you with some observations which will
make you open your eyes,"
We laughed. Alf and Tom shook
hands with him, and got into the boat.
We promised, if we should happen to
meet him, we would certainly see him
returned to safe custody. Alf stood
up and showed us from the shore; we
sang out last goOd-by, and left the
doctor standing on the bank.
1t was a beautiful morning. The
river was delicious, clear as crystal !;
we could see the bottom, and every
stone and pebble on it just a gentle
breeze tanning the surface of the wa
ters into little ripple. We lit our
pipes and took it easily. 1 am a good
bit of traveller, know many lovely
hooks and crannies in foreign lands
have lived abroad as much as at home ;
but will match the higher reaches OF
our own Father Thames for beauty
and for charm against any scenery in
Europe. And on an early summer
morning, after spell Of glorions
weather, it is in all its prime; the wa
ter so cool, so clear; the banks so
green, so charming; the stately trees
on either side; the mansions seen over
the meadows or peeping out among
the trees. You may choose your Rhine,
your Garda, or your MaggiOre, or your
golden Bay of Naples, but leave Cook
ham and old Father Thames to me.
Presumably we had come for river
beauties and the camping -Out-pre-
sumably; but as a matter of fact there
was a young lady lived not 50 far
ahead, a mutual friend, Lillian Travers.
Separately and jointly we had high
opinion of Miss Travers, not only of
her beauty, but of other things as we'll;
and having come so far we hoped we
should not have to return until at least
we had had a peep at her. Unfortu-
nately, though we knew Miss Travers,
we had no acquaintance with Mr.
there was no Mrs. We had met the
young lady at several dances and such
like but on each occasion she was
under the chaperonage of old Mrs.
Mackenzie. Apparently Mr.. Travers
was not a party man. But Lillian had
promised to introduce US to him when
ever she got chance, and we were
not unhOpeful she would get that
chance now. So you see that little ex-
cursiOn riverward had more in it than
met the eye.
We went lazily on, just dipping the
oars in aud out; smoking, watching
the smoke circling through the clear
air. All thoughts of the doctor and
his parting words had gone from our
minds. We talked little, and that
little was of Lillian and the chances OF
our meeting. We had gone some two
or three hundred yards; we were close
to the shore. ALT could almost reach
it by stretching out his oar. We were
dreaming and lazing, when suddenly
some one stepped out from among the
trees. He was close to us-not a doz-
en- feet away.
He was tall man, rather over than
under six feet. He was dressed in a
dark brown suit of Oxford mixture
he had stick in his hand, wore bill
ly-cOck hat, and his coat was buttoned
right up to his throat. He had light
whiskers, heavy dropping mustache,
hair unusually long, iron gray in color.